Misys joins exodus to India

INDEPENDENT financial adviser network Sesame, owned by support services giant Misys, has transferred its quality control unit to India.

As a result, investment and pension applications - which must comply with stringent standards laid down by UK financial regulators - will be monitored from Delhi.

Sesame, which covers 7,000 independent advisers, has hired 116 Indian workers. They will have to check up to 750 applications a day for life assurance, pensions and unit trusts. Advisers risk being rapped by regulators for mis-selling unless they ensure that customers take out suitable products.

Michael Cousins, Sesame's director of compliance, expects the Delhi centre to be 'fully operational' by the year-end. He maintains that only a handful of UK jobs will be lost.

A number of financial firms including HSBC and the Prudential have moved some operations to Third World locations to slash costs.

Sesame's move is likely to mean fresh controversy for its parent Misys, which was this weekend ordered by regulators to withdraw faulty laboratory software from hospitals in the US.

The software had a defect that could lead to inaccurate results being used to diagnose and treat patients.